


Bad Sign

by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER



Category: Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XV, Versus XIII - Fandom
Genre: Dark!Noctis, Evil!Noctis, F/M, Inspired by a fic, Omen!Noctis, and will probably get darker and more mature if i continue, good!stella, inspired by a tsunderedreamer fic, inspired by tsunderedreamer, luna may make an appearance later. if i continue, pretty dark story in genereal, versus xiii!noctis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-06 19:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12824823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER/pseuds/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: Stella Nox Fleuret is trying her hardest not to fall for Noctis Lucis Caelum. Despite the fact they were once childhood friends--and despite the fact that he's always charming and kind to her whenever they meet--they're enemies! And Stella fears the sort of tyrannical rule he might bring about.But when Noctis has the chance to exact cruel revenge on one of her people--and therefore, her--after they attack him... and chooses not to (but rather, to be kind), she feels it might be too late to try and keep her heart out of his grasp.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TsundereDreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsundereDreamer/gifts).



To put it simply: Stella Nox Fleuret had been beyond terrified for her dear friend, when he fell into the hands of one Noctis Lucis Caelum: a royal of her rival nation.

As for the prince himself, Stella didn’t have too many qualms about him—how could she? When they’d once been childhood friends; and when they’d met up once recently, they had talked of their mutual hate for the deaths of the innocent—but she was no fool.

He was still her enemy.

And upon having caught someone breaking into his castle, despite the fact he knew that the person was her friend, Noctis would have him executed… or worse.

And Stella feared the day he would think _she’d_ fully betrayed him, and send her a part of Luke’s body in the mail for it.

And one day, she had thought that time had come.

Stella was going to her front yard—as she had been tirelessly doing every day since her cousin’s capture, hoping to find a ransom note there—and she came upon a letter from Noctis… that was a bit too full for her liking.

Swallowing, as she opened the letter with shaking hands, Stella dreaded what she’d find.

Noctis wasn’t cruel for no reason… but he could be malicious when forced to it.

She recalled—for example—how he’d put the fire of his cigarette butts against many people’s skin, when they’d been awful to her at his family’s party.

What Stella found—when she finally steeled her nerves—was a square, purple card and the prince’s elegant script.

And intrigued by this, despite herself—maybe it was a love letter! …Even if any feelings they might have for each other could never be—Stella began reading.

“My dearest Stella, I won’t beat around the bush… As you know, your cousin was caught trying to take me hostage.

“And I won’t lie, Stell, there’s a large part of me that wants to kill him for that. But I won’t. For you.

“Instead… you’ll find him being returned to you, via one of our airships, while you’re reading this, probably.

“And moreover… that dream he always had of being a florist? He now has the funds for it, due to yours truly.

“Anyway… I want to see you, Stella. The hours grow long and pointless without you with me.

“Let me know if you can meet up with me somewhere.

-Your Noctis”

Stella let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, as she hugged the man’s kind words to her chest.

Honestly? Stella wanted to meet him again, too.

Especially after she saw that Noctis was true to his word; Luke was now climbing down a rope ladder that was hovering over her manor.

The powerful prince—no, king now—hadn’t had to do this, Stella found herself thinking…

Though these kinds of thoughts were best left forgotten.

But he’d gone above the call of duty for her! And Stella was touched by it… and very much in love, damn her.

 _It could be a trap_ , Stella reminded herself, an ivy twirling around her leg to almost symbolize this. _Perhaps Noctis is lying, and wants to take his anger for what’s happened out on_ me _—and not Luke…_ _or maybe he just wants to fight me again. What if it’s some sort of strange turn on for him? If so, I don’t want that._

But even in her darkest nightmares about him, Stella couldn’t imagine either of those two things being the answer

She trusted Noctis too much for that.

Mayhap it was even her fatal flaw…

So whistling for her beloved Pryna, who Stella had used to secretly deliver messages to Noct before, she wrote on the back of the letter he’d sent to her, and sealed her heart away.

Or perhaps the gods themselves had done that long ago.

Stella had been trapped in this fruitless love story since she’d laid eyes on that boy, hadn’t she?

And there was no getting out of it.

She didn’t even _want_ to get out of it, either: And that was the problem right there.

With shaking hands, she’d written this: “Meet me at my _own_ party this time. Tenebrae is having a masked ball… so if you also come dressed up that way, no one will ever know it’s you.”

 _Maybe_ I _won’t even believe how I’m betraying my own people, if I don’t see your face_.

Before Stella could regret her actions, she shooed Pryna away.

The canine took off like a shot, and faded more and more into the distance as she moved.

All Stella could pray, was that it wasn’t some kind of bad sign…

That she could no longer see her most trusted companion in her field of vision anymore; and that she’d lost her on her own watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For TsundereDreamer:) That dear friend of mine wrote a really interesting lime story with dark!Noctis, Stella, and Luna.
> 
> And I got sort of inspired by it, and wondered how Stella could have fallen in love with the more evil Noct there—as she’d even somewhat been fighting against him and everything, in fearing a tyrannical reign from him—and this is my answer for that.
> 
> Or part of one.
> 
> I might continue this story. 
> 
> I’m quite tempted to, actually.
> 
> Also… Stella’s cousin is named “Luke” in this, for no other reason than the fact that I’ve been listening to the The Lightning Thief musical too much lately. Oops.
> 
> I really wanted to call this story “Omen”, but I already have something called that. Alas. XD.
> 
> Btw… I’m sorry if this is too simple. I tried to stay away from the Purple Prose I feel I usually have, but I think I slid too much to the OTHER side now. If I continue this story, there will hopefully be more detail in the other chapter(s).
> 
> And if anyone is reading my “The Violet of Royalty” NoctLuna story… rest assured that I’ve been working on it all NaNoWriMo, and an update IS coming:)
> 
> Shutting up now.
> 
> -Shanna


	2. Chapter 2

When Stella had thought about her family's party—and what it would be like to meet Noctis there—mainly two possibilities had come to mind:

One: that Noctis would carry her off to some secluded area to makeout with her.

Or, two... that he'd end up exploding the manor in an actual act of betrayal.

What Stella hadn't counted on was the response she did get from Noctis:

The meeting him in a slightly secluded area part ended up being true, just as she’d imagined...

It was the basement of her castle, to be exact—that looked like many sheepdogs had been robbed of their fur to make the carpet there, before said rug disappeared completely to make way for washing machines.

…It was very mundane, and almost middle class looking:

And Stella—in the part of her mind that wasn’t currently ogling Noctis, who was walking towards her now—was glad for it, because it was in exact contrast to where she had met Noct during his kingdom’s won festivities… even if Stella dreaded that her fairy costume didn’t go with this interior. At all.

Noctis was before Stella now—and she was positively digging his blue suit, as he smiled at her—but she couldn't help but to burst out laughing when she saw his mask:

Which was probably a bad thing to do, since Stella didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than absolutely necessary (a near impossibility, probably).

But fortunately, when Noctis drew her back into his arms and started poking her sides to get back at her for making fun of him, the few people around them relaxed and just assumed they were any ordinary couple.

"Please stop teasing me, Stella," Noctis pouted. "It's not my fault you invited me to this thing last minute... but even if I am humiliated… it's worth it.

Stella had been about to tell Noctis that he looked like he was wearing a heart mask that had been colored in by toddlers…

Though she gathered it was actually supposed to be a circle—the sun, perhaps?—but part of it had been somehow ripped away, so it now resembled a valentine:

It was cheesy and corny—though unintentionally, of course—and Stella still would have been cracking up and being self-righteous about it (because Stell needed some light in this dark life she lived, okay?)... if Noctis hadn't seemed so sad about her ribbing.

So to try and quell that emotion in him, Stella turned around in Noctis' arms and held his face between her hands.

"Then let's forget all this... nonsense we find ourselves in and just sway to the music… Dance with me, Noct."

And the look that Noctis gave her then was beyond intense:

On one hand, Noct looked almost... offended that she had called him by this nickname, but also moved by it?

In fact, he looked like he wanted to ravish her on the spot for the moniker she’d just used for him... or like he'd be happy to do all manners of love for her now, like placing flower petals everywhere she stepped.

But instead, the king just began dancing in front of her—swaying slowly, as he kept gentle hands on her waist.

Stella twisted about once more, so that her back was to Noctis’ torso; and almost instantly, his lips began whispering against Stella’s neck, whilst he raised his hands up to lightly brush against her hair.

And Stella? She did not want to be seduced by her dear prince—for she thought of all the millions of innocents that could die by his hand. Even if she had no proof of that fact, and it was sadly just a gut feeling she didn't want to have—but she found herself being undone, anyway, as she leaned into him and moaned once.

In another life, Stella would have been beyond humiliated by what she’d done. But as she found herself suddenly becoming incredibly hot?—had the people now filing down here brought some space heaters with them, or what?—the princess found that she couldn’t care less about wearing her heart on her sleeve right now.

But the moment Noctis whispered her name breathlessly, almost in some sort of prayer—and her eyes blazed like fire to him in response—she knew she had to do something before she became completely lost: she just didn’t know what that something was.

But fortunately or unfortunately (Stella would decide on that later), Noctis ended up halting everything _himself_.

He grabbed hold of Stella's arms, not in a harmful way, and ran his hands over the scars that he found there.

She couldn’t help flinching as he did so; these new injuries of hers just hurt too greatly still.

"Who did this to you, Stella?!" Noctis roared out.

And though Stella was at once disheartened by his change in persona—because didn't it hint at everything she’d ever feared about him—she couldn't help but to feel slightly touched by his outrage for her.

And so Stella rewarded that compassion of Noctis’ with an honest answer, as she somewhat strode away from him with her hands on her lap. "It was one of the... female soldiers in my ranks. She thought we should be... intimate with each other—as surely we’re the only two women in Tenebrae who can understand each other, since we’re the only ones to fight there professionally. I- I refused her, of course. And when I did, she added marks of her new distaste to me."

As Stella’s mind worked in overtime to create some extra walls to protect her from all this now—like in allowing her to block out mostly everything that was happening around her—she was proud to find that she didn't begin tearing up at all this. She did taste bile in her throat, however, and she quickly swallowed it down as best she could.

"Stella..." Noctis muttered positively broken now. And as he came over to bury his face against her shoulder, she found herself thinking that if the sob he was audibly holding back had been put to a soundtrack… Well, he would have won a Tony for his performance. He just seemed so upset by what had happened to her.

"This is why- I have to tell you that I went and talked to Etro: And she said- she said she'll destroy the world—unless I rule over everyone and put locks on their brains, to keep them from being complete assholes like this. And I- I think I should do it... if I do, nothing like this will ever happen to you again."

Stella's body completely froze here—while, ironically, all the people that were now mulling around them did the Chicken Dance—and Stella was heartbroken to understand that all of Noctis’ current failings were because of _her_.

Stella didn’t want to delve into all of this too much right now, because she needed to focus on the matter at hand... but if she'd never let Niflheim strong-arm her into things and rape her… would Noctis have let such hatred into his heart? Stella thought not.

 _So I should have stayed with him, then, in more ways than one_ , Stella despaired.

But it didn't keep her from concentrating on her current predicament. Because with her ADHD, Stella was able to do two things at once. And so she did.

"Noctis," Stella began now, coming back towards Noctis and trying her best to be cautious with how she handled this predicament. "...How can you be sure that was really Etro? None of the rest of us—in Tenebrae, Niflheim, and Accordo—can hear our gods voices'... so are you certain what you're encountering is real?"

Somewhere during her tirade, Stella had ended up sitting on the floor with Mr. Darkness, as she was now internally calling him, while she ran a hand over one of his combat boots.

Stella actually wasn't sure how that had come to transpire—huh. Maybe her ADHD was failing her, after all. Or maybe it was her sudden dizziness that was keeping her from thoroughly keeping tabs on things right now—but as they were being casual again, she couldn't truly care at all what had led to it.

Stella remembered, after all, when she and Noct had gone to camp together—during his very limited time in Tenebrae as a child—and Noctis had cut the top of one boot off, because he thought shoes should also have the right to look different from each other: the way that eyes could somewhat be a different size.

And ever since then, Noctis had apparently been altering one of his boots when he bought them.

And even now, despite everything, Stella couldn't help but to marvel at it.

"Because," Noctis started, just as a ton of the party goers—including Stella's own siblings, who were starting their way—came over and started dangling streamers in front of their faces, and even threw them down at some points.

It seemed that Tenebrae had finally seen their princess was on a date, and wanted to tease her about it... but they had no idea who the person she was courting actually was, and she felt repentant for it at once.

Meanwhile, Noctis continued on unperturbed, while Stella spit some of the oncoming paper out of her face.

"Because there are some things you just know, aren't there? Like how you feel the wind on your face, and understand that it's there without really seeing it."

 _The next thing you're going to tell me_ , Stella thought, _is that love also isn't visible_ , Stella wagered now. And she wasn't entirely sure what she would do if he did.

As it happened, Stella was starting to black out this second: her senses were just going haywire right now, in trying to deal with all the stimuli.

Noctis' hands on her felt exactly the right temperature—so that was good, at least—but Stella was smelling too much orange... and the streamers were even cutting against her cheeks now.

Stella also tasted something almost base-like on her tongue: and though she might have been having issues with Noctis right now, she still prayed that she just wouldn’t up and vomit on the poor soul.

So she buried her face in Noct's navy blue jacket—feeling like a baby who had pressed its face to a mother’s chest, in order to inhale their perfume—and she hoped that Noctis would see her somewhat as a child now, as he held her, and stop his dark fantasies.

"But without the bad, or without hate, would we really know how to love?" Stella finally settled on, to war against Noctis' earlier words.

And was she imagining it… or had a certain understanding come over Noctis' face at that?

The last thing Stella was really sure of before she passed out, was that Noctis had carried her to the plaid couch for her to lay down on—and had given her some pills and water for her nausea, she suspected—before he put a strand of hair behind her ear and disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day—when Stella was back in her room and sitting down, due to her servants’ efforts—she found that she was having a hard time believing she was the same person she had been before all this had started.  
  
She hadn't really done anything untoward with Noctis, of course—though Stella remembered too well what it had felt like for him to dance up against her, and to feel their bodies aligning.

Even now, hours after it had happened, she had to blink the memories away.  
  
But more than anything? Stella couldn't believe she'd actually invited the prince of their rival nation to her grounds—even if she had been trying to be diplomatic—what had she been thinking?!

 _What am I going to say to my brother and sister, if they find out?_ Stella internally demanded—continuing to torture herself, as she locked eyes with the green orbs staring back at her in the mirror. (1)  
  
Stella smiled for those, if for nothing else—as she'd always been a fan of that particular feature of hers.  
  
In one of her favorite video game series, it was highly theorized that green eyes meant being between light and darkness.  
  
And Stella would never want to be darkness, of course, but at least she fell into some of the light in that universe.

Besides: Stella thought that if any color meant to be tied to light in her current world, it would be aquamarine.  
  
So in seeing that shade shine back at her now, Stella suddenly felt the ground steady beneath her feet again.  
  
And it was when that thought was as firmly implanted into her head as it was going to get, that Lunafreya entered into Stella's room.  
  
And maybe it was seeing her so lost in her own world, that Luna ventured: "Are you going to work today? After what happened with Samantha- I don't know if you should."  
  
Despite herself, Stella couldn’t help but beam at this.

Leave it to her baby sister to figure out who had really hurt her, when she had lied about it before.  
  
Oddly enough? Stella had said it had been a guy who had attacked her—because wasn't that often expected of them?—because she didn't want to risk Luna isolating herself from both sexes, after their dad had pretty much scared them off men forever, but-  
  
But Luna, in loving Stella as much as she did, had seen through the lie.  
  
How much Luna did for her family, and how much she adored them, was actually one of the reasons Stella cared about Luna as much as she did.

But sometimes… she worried about her obsessive tendencies, for wouldn't it be in Lunafreya's character to neglect her own needs to make everyone else happy? (2)  
  
But shaking her head of that particular thought for a second, Stella got up from her chair and crossed the distance to take her baby sister's hands in her own.  
  
"Thank you _so_ much. Seriously. You have _no_ idea how much your genius means to me right now…

“But I'll be fine. And though I may have been for a second during all of this... I'm not a crying little girl who doesn't know how to deal with this. I rank higher than Samantha. And am stronger than she is. So if she messes with me again, I'll just put her in her place."  
  
Luna considered it.

And was it Stella... or did Luna now look like she was seriously warring with herself about something?  
  
Stella was just about to give her best friend another reassuring hand—this one to her shoulder, and tell her that she could speak with her about _anything_ —but Luna was the one to beat her to the punch there.

"If it ever happens again, Stella… let me know. I know my magic is mainly about healing. But it can also be used for the opposite of that. And if anyone hurts you again, I'll-"  
  
Stella swallowed hard, as she took a second to look at some of the pickaxes decorating her living quarters.  
  
Though probably strange to most... Stella had always wanted to be a miner, in the alternate universe where she _wasn’t_ a princess and actually had a choice of vocation.  
  
But now she, somewhat fearfully, pondered if Luna was wishing the same kind of dream _herself_ —so that she could easily wield the weapon and use it against anyone who might harm her family.  
  
_Has Luna figured out all the times I've been raped?_ Stella numbly considered, whilst time seemed to slow down and she noted a random squirrel swishing its tail in her window.  
  
If she had, she didn't say anything about it.

And instead of getting violent, Luna moved onto her true passion again: helping people.  
  
"Well, if you don't mind me... I'm going to go to the park, and see if anyone who goes down the broken slide there will need healing. I'll see you later, Stella. Maybe for grapes tonight?"  
  
Which meant that Luna wanted to go to Olive Garden with her and Ravus.  
  
It was an inside joke: Because both Stella and Luna loved that restaurant, but they'd always agreed that the logo looked more like grapes than anything else: something that they much preferred to olives.

So after deciding this, they started going to Olive Garden and getting their favorite entrees there. And jokingly, they’d always order grape wine with it.

Ravus thought they were both crazy, of course, and didn't agree with their thought process on the olives versus grapes thing at all.

But he didn't pass up food that was on the house, either, so he often did go with them.  
  
Stella was about to ask Luna if she’d call Ravus for her—to see if he was interested in going. As she was still a bit too much of a wreck to do it herself—but Luna was gone just like that.

And Stella couldn’t help the sense of foreboding she got because of it.

She did _not_ need her little sister to fight her battles for her.

Much the opposite, really: And that was the major reason she’d enlisted in Tenebrae’s military to begin with.

…

It was when Stella was taking Pryna on a walk after some military planning—and how _happy_ Stella was to have her doggy by her side, after part of her had been worried she'd never see her again after the Noctis situation—that it suddenly occurred to Stella that instead of joining Noctis down his dark path... why didn't she try to have him join her on the light one?

As Stella paused in walking over an overpass (a skateboarder had been heading her way, and she hadn’t very much appreciated the idea of getting clocked in the head by them), she had to wonder why she'd never had this idea before.  
  
It seemed so obvious now, that Stella could have smacked herself.  
  
After all, Stella knew all about Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio—who Noctis had talked to her about quite a few times—so clearly he wasn’t too far gone yet, if he still valued their freewill. And Stella couldn’t see how he wouldn’t.  
  
…If she could just get him to _not_ make a deal with the devil, as it were... and could convince her people that her marrying him for peace was a good idea, maybe things could actually end peacefully and happily here.

As Stella closed her eyes in the warm sun now—continuing her trek—she could see her and Noct getting ice cream together...

Noctis would probably order a flavor he thought he'd like, but only to regret it, and then he'd want to have some of hers... and Stella would gladly give in... by shoving the frozen dessert into his face, of course.  
  
It was as Stella was laughing with mirth at her far too perfect fantasy, that she actually ended up seeing Noctis and his friends at an outdoor mall before her.  
  
And after she was entirely certain it wasn’t a dream, Stella put all of her willpower into not reacting: not just because she didn't want to give Noctis the satisfaction, but also because she'd probably incite a mob if she did!  
  
Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto were all playing football together, right there in the open!

And even though he could have been doing this in a malicious way—because Tenebrae and Niflheim had attacked his home, before eventually failing in their endeavor—he was just having fun with his friends... in her hometown. For some reason.  
  
"Noctis..." Stella practically hissed, as she ran up to him... nearly snapping one of her high heels against the pavement as she did so. "You can't just- you can't just _be_ here! If people see you, they'll-"  
  
Stella words trailed off almost instantly, when she noted just how _touched_ Noctis seemed to be about her concern for his safety.

And as Stella's own anger faded away some, she found that she was, in fact, dreading what could happen to him here—if people became the wiser to the situation.   
  
...How could she _not_ be, when he was the only little boy who had ever understood her love for flowers, such as cherry blossoms, falling from the sky?

After little Noctis had learned that particular trait about her… he’d gone out and bought her a fan, so she could try and replicate that effect in her own room.  
  
Stella still remembered when she had had her servants hook up that thing to her ceiling… and how the flowers she had thrown up into the air to look like faux-wind had looked like snow... snow atop the “mountains” she had decorating her room.  
  
"Noctis... is _this_ \- is this the girl you've told us so much about?" Prompto, Stella presumed, pressed excitedly.   
  
And sensing that Prompto was about to say her actual name and blow her cover, Stella offered her name as "Star"—hoping Prompto would get that she was saying she _was_ Stella, but also telling him not to say that out loud—and offered him her hand. "I am Star, and I'm honored to make your acquaintance and to hear that Noctis has spoken well of me."  
  
And she was glad to hear that, after what she had done to him.

Truth be told… Stella was really starting to loathe herself for the earlier attack on Lucis, and the part she had played in it.

…Ignis and Gladio didn't seem to be impressed by her in the slightest, and the princess thought that that was only fair, with everything that had happened. But she couldn’t help thinking that maybe she could do something to change their opinion of her now.

"We're her for the big game between Kai and Riku," Noctis explained—sitting down on the sidewalk, and slipping some change into a parking meter that was about to run out on someone: something that it was beyond nice of him to do. "And _should_ I be here? Probably not. But for the most part, the guys and I couldn’t resist it. And I would have resisted it even less if it were a major fishing competition you were hosting instead.

"So does that explain it, Star?" Noctis Sworn Shield demanded, it sounded like, as he came to stand between her and Noctis.  
  
What? Did he think she thought that this was secretly a retaliation that Noctis was planning?

Stella may have thought that Noctis was much like Julius Caesar a lot of the time, but she didn't doubt that these people from the entertainment capital of the world were here for exactly that: entertainment.  
  
She was even about to retort as much—as she reluctantly came to sit beside Noctis. And it was only reluctant on her part, because she knew they were much more likely to have people realize who they were with them together like this—or to maybe still tell Noctis to stop this mad idea, because she’d never be able to bear it if something happened to him on her watch…  
  
But then she noted a column that Noctis was staring at, that was holding up the entrance to a clothing store:  
  
It, in a startling way, resembled a statue of the Goddess Etro... a statue that Tenebrae had stolen from Lucis many moons ago; and one that was believed to have special powers to it... (3)  
  
Stella barely held back the shiver that wanted to travel down her spine, when she realized that the _real_ reason Noctis was here... was to commune with it, and give the goddess _exactly_ what she had wanted with people’s minds.  
  
"So, Star," Prompto started—distracting Stella for just an instance, as he drummed a tune on his thigh. "Did Noct ever tell you he once got his leg stuck in a gutter once, an-"  
  
But Stella was so flustered by this point, she cut off what would have been the best story ever (something she’d much regret later), just to pretty much line up a date: the opposite of what she should have been doing now, with this news! Even if there was still a part of her that wanted to save him!

"Noctis... do you want to go over to my house? My summerhouse, I mean, and do something light and fun? Not that Tenebrae is at war with Lucis... but we almost were, and things are… tense right now. So what better way to end that, then for us to be at ease with each other and for everyone to know it? …Your friends can come, too... so they’ll be there to stop anything that might seem ‘suspect’ to them. And- and-”

 _I'm going to- I'm going to keep you anchored to this world, if it’s the last thing I do! And hopefully away from that goddess and her damn statue!_  
  
But the only reply Stella got, was a shrug of Noctis’ shoulders and him nodding at her via his eyes, before he and his fellow Lucians headed into the stadium.

Stella made sure to send Pryna to spy on him there—who, somewhat annoyingly, had been circling Noctis like he was her long lost best friend, all the while that Stella had been discussing things—but she still doubted it would be enough.

…

Truthfully? Stella would have liked to say that her summer home was much like Kyle's from Beastly—her favorite movie of all time--where a large, rectangular colonial resided. And with it, gorgeous picture windows and a winding walkway you could go bike riding on.  
  
…Stella's second house was none of these things.

And if she were to find the exact words to try and describe the place, she'd have to say I it was a tree house in one of Tenebrae's most lush forests.

It was fully furnished, of course, and lavish... but a little on the rough living side—since one whole wall was blown out (which led to bugs), and it could get quite hot...  
  
But there were still times that Stella thought her house number two was truly beautiful, and she often appreciated the simpler side of it with all of her being.  
  
Like now: when she was trying to get Noctis to enjoy the world, so he wouldn't destroy it.

She had no idea, either, what had possessed his brothers not to come (or maybe he’d snuck off without them), but Stella was glad for it. Because this actually seemed to be working. And better yet… it was fun.

"So..." Noctis uttered, as he passed the red balloon back towards Stella—whilst they sat on the wooden floor and played “ball” like children would. "Not that I at all dislike what we're doing... but what's the point of it?"  
  
Stella grinned, just when the rubber of the balloon brushed against her fingertips. Noctis had thrown it to her pretty hard...

As hard as one could throw a balloon, anyway. And the girl got the sense that it was because he knew her strength and trusted that she could be a real contender against him when it came to sports.

"Because isn't this fun, Noct? I know I sometimes need to do stuff like this to unwind when it comes to my own life, and I imagine it's the same with you?"  
  
There was that intense look in Noctis' eyes again, when she called him "Noct"; Stella couldn't quite figure out why.

He'd said that she could call him that, hadn't he? And had practically begged her to...

But Stella supposed that that was _before_ they’d gotten into a physical fight with each other.

So maybe he fully didn't trust her now, and somewhat wanted to revoke that right?  
  
But Noctis quickly found his good humor again, when Stella tried to serve the balloon his way and it instead got caught on her orange soda can.  
  
Bursting out laughing, Noctis said with a roll of his eyes: "It figures that it would get stuck on there, and now that it's stained orange... it somehow makes me think of Prompto. He so very badly wanted to go on this date. And I guess now in my head, at least, he is."  
  
At that, Stella paused mid-grab for the balloon.   
  
Huh. If Noctis was getting such a big kick out of this, maybe it would be best to just leave the balloon there.

Stella really didn't know what they could do without it—as she stupidly hadn't brought many activities to do here—but she'd improvise.  
  
Sitting down like Noctis was—with her legs angled to the side—Stella admitted something, with her hands folded in her lap. "I'll admit that I don't know as much about Prompto as I'd like to, but he seems great. And someone who'd be right up my alley, when it comes to a lot of things. I hope I really get to spend time with him one day..."  
  
"Tch. Yeah… he's my best friend. And honestly, he's the one from Lucis I worry about the most—if Etro goes all ham when it comes to what she wants."  
  
Outside, the baby pink of twilight gave way to a purple that was almost navy blue, as night settled in.

Stella thought that the picture was gorgeous... and that was a very good thing, because everything else in her life suddenly wasn’t that at all: Not the rain coming down hard outside, the sudden cold, or the sudden feeling of dread that settled in her stomach.  
  
"So then, you stole the statue back? And are planning to-"  
  
And just like that, Noctis' countenance flipped like a switch, and Stella couldn't blame him for it at all.

It wasn't so much that he looked angry... but that every trace of emotion had now left his face completely, as he attempted to guard his heart from further pain:

Stella had seen both Ravus and Lunafreya do that before, but she didn't think she'd ever done the trick herself.

She—to her own detriment, many a time—was an open book.  
  
"I love how you just always assume the worst about me, Stella. And don't deny it-it's all over your face. Believe it or not... Etro can do things _herself_. And maybe I'm scared of _that_ -  
  
"And if either of us should be suspicious of each other, it should be me of _you_.

“Gods, Stella... you play-fought me before Niflheim tried to take our Crystal. And that's all well and good... but I think you were actually trying to distract me then, so Ravus could get away with it.... But you didn't keep my attention as long as you hoped I would, and we stopped that plan in its tracks.

“And Lucis didn't go to war with Niflheim, Tenebrae—or hell even Accordo after that—when we probably fucking should have. Your country should be on _its_ knees, in thanking me for that… But instead you're still doing all this shi-

“Stella, all I've ever tried to do is love you. But you you you you you-"  
  
Somewhere during Noctis' speech, Stella grabbed a hold of the balloon, and began to make it screech as her fingers crossed it: this had always been the worst sound she could imagine—as it was like nails on a chalkboard to her—and she thought she deserved only it, after everything she'd done (and fortunately, Noctis knew this about her—and what she was doing; so he didn't see her actions as disrespectful here; it didn’t make the situation any worse).

Because _every_ point he'd just made was spot-on.

…Though he still hadn't denied her accusation, and rather had sidestepped it.

But just for once, Stella told that suspicious side of her to shut up.   
  
Grasping for anything to now try and salvage their once perfect night—as she mentally cursed her mother for putting her in this whole nightmare of a situation to begin with—Stella breathlessly asked, "Wh-what can I do to fix this, and turn the clock back to how we were _just_ a second ago?"  
  
At first, there was just utter silence. And Stella thought Noctis might just never speak again, or just get up and leave.  
  
But finally he spoke. And one ring of ice melted around her heart, but only for it grow back for a new reason in a few weeks time.

"Any femme fatale can seduce... but they can't always easily fake feelings… So just come over here and hold my hand, and maybe I'll have faith in you again. Maybe I’ll believe all of this isn’t fake."   
  
And so Stella did for hours what Noctis had instructed her to. She even let _him_ hold _her_ in his arms completely, until the sun came up.

And it was such a… pleasant and loving feeling.

Even if both parties were completely living in denial.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Yes, you read right. Stella’s eyes are green in this story. And I’ve mostly explained why, if you caught it (and Stella WAS thinking of Kingdom Hearts as her favorite video game series there:)). But expect more from this later.
> 
> 2\. Luna isn’t the Oracle here, I don’t think. Especially since the lore of my fic is different from canon, and is somewhat more Versus XIII than it is FFXV. So Noctis and Luna aren’t the King of Kings and Oracle needed to save the world, or whatever: So for that reason, Luna’s a healer for more simple things—like you may have gathered this chapter, in seeing her go to a nearby park to heal people who might have just gotten some more commonplace injuries there? She’s also a bit sheltered here, in having both Ravus AND Stella looking out for her. And Noctis and Luna have not met yet (because in this, Luna wasn’t born yet when Noctis visited Tenebrae as a child—which, by the way, was for much longer in this than it was in canon—and I guess he just hasn’t heard about her yet? Luna knows of Noctis’ existence, though, and is wary of him like Stella and Ravus are).
> 
> 3\. Yes, I’m pretty much ripping off the Athena Parthenos plot from The Heroes of Olympus series, with this Statue of Etro plot. And no one can stop me!
> 
> 4\. Also, if you guys haven’t already guessed… this story’s timeline is actually QUITE a bit different from canon’s. One of the MAJOR differences being that Niflheim (with Tenebrae trying to help them this time around, and maybe a teeny teeny tiny bit Accordo) actually FAILED to steal the Crystal. And the Kingdom of Lucis, surprisingly choosing to be the bigger person in all of this, decided not to go war with any of the countries involved—as Noctis mentions in this chapter. And I hope to get into more of these changes, and give a more concrete timeline of things, next chapter:)
> 
> 5\. Oh, and the teams in the Tenebrae football game are “Riku” and “Kai”, because I wanted to use Japanese words. And I wanted the two teams to be sort of opposite of each other? And some things that make up parts of our planet, as Noctis and Stella’s names are? So, Riku, meaning “land”, and Kai meaning “sea”, it was. And that part really is NOT supposed to be a KH reference, guys, so please don’t take it as such.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading!


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